365 Days of Surviving Ikebukuro
by Lilcutie58
Summary: Kichiro had done some stupid stuff in the past, but never anything to catch up with him years down the road. So what if he had to move in a hurry to prevent certain death? So what if he had to come back to the same place to make money or risk losing his house? And so what if two of Ikebukuro's most dangerous people want him six feet under? Oh wait, here's what about it: AAAAAAAAAH!
1. The Day Kichiro Ran: Part 1

_Connecting to LiveWire, please do not disconnect from the Internet or unplug your device while your connection is being verified._

...

 _Connection status: Operational  
_

* * *

Pool sticks clattered to the ground as my body twisted and turned into various positions to worm my way through the gigantic mess that is my car. Empty bags of takeout from Russia Sushi, old coupons for the supermarket and the piles upon piles of luggage that I refuse to unpack. Most everybody in the city wears the same damn clothes everyday and if you bump into someone once, you're probably never gonna see them again since the entire city's like a fucking maze, so who gives a shit? My laptop came into sight the moment that I moved a box of raffle tickets out of the way and I crawled soldier-style towards it as I waited for the other window to fully load up.

I bet you're wondering who the hell I plan on talking to. In fact...I bet you're wondering who the hell is talking to you right now. The name's Ichirou, creative name I know, but blame my parents for that. I don't feel all that comfortable to give out my last name; sorry, but I don't trust strangers all that easily in this city. What with the crazy red-eyed knife-wielding maniacs, the color gangs, the ever looming threat of the Yakuza and other underground criminals, I think you see why. Still, now that introductions are out of the way, the person I'm going to talk to is none other than-

 _Linking connection...  
Connection linked!_

 _"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-_  
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"  
 **"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH-"**

-Kichiro, my little brother. Other titles that suit him are 'drama queen', 'spaz', 'gaming nerd' and a dozen others that would take too much time to for me to recite by heart...

"WHY ARE YOU SCREAMING?!"  
 _"I'm dead, Ichi! Dead as a doornail, stick a fork in me because my goose is cooked! Your brother is a dead man walking!"_  
"I don't know; if you're screaming your lungs out and running around like a chicken with its head cut off-"  
 _"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"_  
"Okay, poor choice of words for this particular situation. But still! Can you calm down for two seconds and tell me what the hell the problem is?"

He had been running around in the background so much that I hadn't gotten the chance to even get a good look at him. God, he was a mess! There was dirt and filth all over him, he had tears in the Persona jacket he was wearing (the fucking gamer nerd), his hair was disheveled and looked more wild badger than it did hair, there was a cut underneath his eye-what the hell happened to him?! He **just** got here today! What the fuck is wrong with this city?!

 _"Listen to my tale of woe, brother! And weep for my forsaken soul!"_  
"Tone down the damn dramatics before I disconnect."

* * *

 _With a shaky breath, my eyes drifted towards the windows of the train I was on as it made its way towards the station. My heart was beating at a hundred miles a minute as I politely waved and smiled at a few patrons that moved around me. My tongue was dry, my stomach was twisting into several knots and my brain was dissolving into a jumble of mind-numbing panicked filled thoughts about what would become of me once I got to my destination. 'You're gonna get hacked into pieces', 'You're gonna be squished by a flying vending machine', 'You're gonna get shot in the street by hired Yakuza', all these negative thoughts swirled in my head like a hurricane of anxiety!_

 _People were starting to stare at me as I began to hyperventilate and shake. Needed to stay calm. Needed to stay cool. Needed to make sure people wouldn't call the nearest insane asylum and report my appearance to them._

 _A small squeak came from me as I heard the sound of the train's brakes begin to squeal. Soon enough, people were piling onto the platform with no fear. No fear of the future like he had. No fear of being impaled by uprooted street signs, squashed by billboards, hit by a propane tank and burning to death on the scene! Why is it suddenly so fucking hot on this train?! My legs propelled me out of the suffocating death box as fellow commuters began to work their way inside of the locomotive; I was going to give myself a heart attack and die before any of the things I was worrying about..._

 _"Come on, Kishiro. Come on! You can do this! Think logically about your situation for a second."_ _My body started to move on its own as always when I started to think. I was conscious of it, sure, but not entirely of where I was going. Not that I cared at the moment. "Ikebukuro is huge. Like gigantic. Absurdly so if you asked me. What were the chances I would run into the objects of my fear? Not very high! Then again, I also had a good year to test those chances. If I didn't need this damn money so badly, I'd say screw this all to hell and hightail it back to my apartment back east! Yet alas..."_

 _A few turns had been made since I had begun my inner monologue and I found myself swept up in the throngs of the city._

 _"Ah man, where the hell am I? I really got to get a handle on my feet when I'm thinking one of these days or else I'll walk smack dab into-" A small grunt came from me as I ran into what felt like a meaty wall. My little ass being at the tender height of 4'9, however, means it could be just about anybody. Really got put on the shallow end of the gene pool when it came to height._

 _"I'm terribly sorry, sir! I had my head in the clouds, but that's no excuse for-" With a slight glance from one of my closed eyes, I immediately felt my blood run cold as I caught sight of a black and white bartender outfit. A shivering fit ran throughout my body as the hulking frame of a blonde, six foot tall man turned to get a good look at me._

 _"What the hell do you want?" The baritone voice of Shizuo Heiwajima rang through my ears with an annoyed undertone to it as I tried to keep myself from pissing my pants._

* * *

"You're first day in the city and somehow, throughout the million people living in it, you managed to find the Japanese hulk himself and run smack dab into him?" I couldn't help it; I had to let out a balk of laughter at my brother's misfortune. For a guy who's name is literally based around 'luck', he's always had the shittiest ever since we were kids. Getting bitten by strays, run over by bicycles, hit with runaway shopping cart lines, food poisoning from his favorite desserts, sick on every one of his birthdays, the list goes on and on! But this! "That's **bad** luck, even for you!"

 _"Thank you for the report, Captain Obvious. I swear, the universe is out to get me! The chances of us running into each other should've been a million to one... **literally**!"_

"Well? Go on! I've gotta hear the end of this now, you've gotten me invested."  
 _"Well, as you can guess, he wasn't all that pleased with me for running into him. I had a feeling he thought I was another one of those idiots that liked to challenge him to a fight. Luckily, his friend managed to quell his temper before he did something rash."_

* * *

 _"Take it easy, Shizuo," a man in what looked to be a light burgundy suit came into view with a can of soda and drew the behemoth's attention. With his eyes off of me, I could feel the soul trickle out of my throat and back into the rest of my being, "the kid was just trying to apologize for bumping into you. No harm done. Not like he could do any harm to you." I felt myself bristle slightly at the 'kid' comment; damn this height of mine..._

 _"Oh." With a grunt and nothing more, the giant began to lumber away from me and his friend spoke a small apology before jogging to catch up with him. A small smile spread across my face as he did a quick turnabout towards the way I came and began to walk that way. The smile was still on my face when I turned a couple of corners. I still had my smile when I walked right past Russia Sushi and Simon waving a few fliers in my face. I **still** had my smile when I went into a random alley, scaring off a stray cat in the process. With the smile still on my face, I lifted up a random trashcan's lid, ducked my head inside...and proceeded to scream like there was no tomorrow._

 _"Okay! Okay, okayokayokayokayokay, **OKAY!** " My breathing was labored as I slammed the lid back down onto its place. Needed to keep calm, needed to keep calm, needed to keep my **fucking** calm! Fingers intertwined themselves into my hair as I tried to keep from pulling it out. That was **way** too close for anything near comfort! That was way too close for **unrest**! My horrendous bad luck is going to get me assimilated to a bloody pulp on the sidewalk at this rate! I knew I should'n't have listened to my mother's harping and invest in that jar of lucky rabbit's feet like I wanted! A sigh left my body as I felt the tension melt away into exhaustion; having a near-death experience will do that to you..._

 _"I think I've had enough of Ikebukuro for one day."  
"Oh don't say that~!"_

 _Every single vein in my body felt they were being overrun with ice. All the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I got goosebumps all over my skin. There was no way. There was no way that this was happening. Not after that first close encounter he had. The world couldn't be that cruel to him, could it? There was no way that none other than Izaya Orihara was standing right behind him..._

 _"After all~. You've already caught up with one old friend. It'd be rude to not do so with the other, eh, Kishi-chan~?"_

* * *

Another round of laughter came from me as my brother's already sour expression grew even more sour. I know it sounds like a real dick move to do, but I couldn't help it! This was just too rich! Both of them in the same day?! That's bad luck on the tier you'd think would be reserved for people that pissed off God or something!

"OH, we gotta put this on pause for a second! My stomach hurts!"  
 _"Ah, fuck y-hey! Where are you going?!"  
_ "I'm going to go to the front of my car and make some popcorn. I finally got that microwave set up the way I wanted it. Go me, am I right?!"  
 _"Oh, you're such a fucking hobo! Well hurry up before I disconnect!"  
_ "Yes, mother."

* * *

 **And that is the end of the first chapter of my new Durarara story! I figured I'd come back with something new to try and spruce up my account a bit. I'll try to update when I can!**


	2. The Day Kichiro Ran: Part 2

"For something that I bought for two dollars at a garage sale downtown, that microwave is able to pop every single kernel of popcorn in a bag without fail or burning a single piece. I don't know why anyone would ever want to get rid of it!" It took some doing, but I managed to work myself back to my laptop with my snack in hand and found an irritated Kichiro waiting for me.

 _"How can you eat at a time like this?! Your brother is retelling his harrowing tale of near-death and you are somehow able to gorge yourself on a cheesy variety of popcorn?!"_ His arms flailed in a manner that likes of which you would think only capable of a cartoon character. I don't see what the big deal is; he looks like a piece of shit, sure, but if he was griping **this** hard, he couldn't have been all **that** hurt. _"Have you no soul, you insufferable excuse for a sibling?!"_ Scratch that last remark, he **definitely** wasn't hurt.

"You know with all that whine you've got on your end, I'm surprised I'm the one with the cheese. Will you get on with it already, I ain't got all night. I've got to get up early and talk with the owner of this car garage to discuss our agreement."

 _"UGH! Fine! Now where was I?"  
_ "Uh, I think we were at the part where you pissed your pants when Izaya found you?"  
 _"Ah yes, that's-HEY! I will have you know I kept my bladder in check, thank you very much! Anyways. You could imagine the sort of terror that was running through me when the second harbinger of my doom decided to grace me with his presence. What happened next, however, was completely unexpected. Then again, Izaya Orihara always has been like that, eh?_

* * *

 _"...Coffee?"_

 _I couldn't believe what I had just heard. My ears must have still been ringing from my own scream reverberating in the trashcan and they were playing tricks on me. There was no way in hell that the informant that's ruined hundreds of lives for shits and giggles, that's thought himself some being above humans since I went to school with him, that antagonizes a person who could snap him in half like he were a twig almost every day...just asked me to go get a coffee with him. Something tells me that there's an ulterior motive here and that I am **not** gonna like it..._

 _"But of course! You just had a harrowing experience! Facing off against the beast of Ikebukuro himself? The thought brings a shiver to my spine." 'Oh, how ironic, considering the fact that you face off against him constantly,' I thought as the information broker spoke. I really didn't want to go anywhere with this possibly, completely insane person, but its not like I really had a choice. One, this was Izaya Orihara; I get on his bad side and every single last bit of personal information about me is online for everyone to see. Two...I had no fucking clue where I was now. Here's hoping that once he got whatever the hell he wanted from me, he'd be so kind as to direct me towards my destination._

 _Then again, I kinda don't want him to know where I would be living for the time I was in the city..._

 _"Alright," I let out a sigh, "let's go and get a quick coffee." Besides. How bad could one interaction with Izaya be?_

 _**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************  
It was a quaint little coffee shop. Not too busy, but not exactly lacking in customers either. The people that acted as waiters and waitresses were friendly and quick to provide customers with what they ordered and from what I could smell, the coffee seemed to be of high quality. All in all, I was astoundingly suspicious. Nobody takes somebody else to a place this nice and **not** have some sort of bad news to give them. And seeing that I was with one of the most analytical, evil masterminds in all of Tokyo, there was a cold feeling of dread swirling around in my stomach despite the warm atmosphere._

 _"Tell me, Kishi-chan. How has your life been since Raira?"  
"Oh! I-It's been alright. Nothing too spectacular has happened, so I'm sorry if I don't have much to say."_

 _One of the waitress came and delivered our coffee, myself being the only one to verbally thank her while Izaya gave a small wave of his hand._

 _"I see. And you're sure of that?" My hand paused in reaching towards the sugar on the other side of the table. That tone of voice right now. It sounded like he was...angry? Or was it more of a suspicious undertone? Maybe both? Whatever it was, it didn't sound good._

 _"Uh, yes? I'm sorry, but living out east is kind of a dull lifestyle. Not much to do, you know?"  
"Oh, I don't doubt that. Honestly, I couldn't see myself leaving this city; it's just too much fun and I wouldn't be able to do what I do without being here." I quickly bit my tongue to keep a 'What? Ruining people's lives?' comment from springing forth._

 _"Of course, I've run into a bit of a...shall we say, snag as of late." My eyes widened. Was someone giving the Izaya Orihara a run for his money? I couldn't help it; a small bit of curiosity ran through me at the notion. Who or what was this snag?_

 _"Is that so? I'm sorry to hear that. What seems to be the problem?"_  
 _"A little weasel has wormed their way back into my life, I'm afraid. It's caused me quite a bit of trouble, but I'm happy to say I'm close to flushing it out." The small sip of my coffee I had given was put on pause as a glint entered the man's eyes. Amusement as expected of Izaya whenever he spoke to one of his 'beloved humans', of course. But there was something else in there. Something predatory?_

 _"O-oh, um. T-That's good to know, I suppose?"  
"Yes, it is. You know, there's a question I've been meaning to ask you." It was only just now that I noticed that Izaya hadn't even touched his coffee. I don't even think he registered it was there in the first place. Has his attention been on me this whole time? The fact made me cringe ever so slightly._

 _"U-uh? O-O-Okay. What?"  
"Does the username 'Kureijī' have any sort of significance to you?" The look of absolute terror that came to my face brought one of sadistic glee to Izaya's. Oh god, I knew there was an ulterior motive, but I still came with him! What is wrong with me?! The whole reason for my fear, the sole purpose of my anguish at coming here shows up and asks me on a coffee date and I'm just like 'sure, why not'? What the fuck is wrong with my brain and making horrible, life-threatening decisions like these?!_

 _"T-That's! An o-o-old f-forum name I u-used to have."  
"My, you're stuttering seems to be getting worse, Kichi-chan~. It's almost like I've drug up something you wanted to keep a secret~." **Run.  
** "W-w-wh-. W-w-why-"  
"Why do I bring it up? Is that what you're going to ask me? Well, I'm sure you're familiar with a certain post you once put online?" **What are you doing? Run.**_

 _"Ah, your face says it all. You know the one. What was it called again? 'Get rid of Shizuo and Izaya!'?" **You damn fool, why are you still here? RUN.**_

 _It was silent after that. I couldn't say anything with the golf ball-sized lump in my throat and Izaya just seemed to be basking in the reaction he had wrought, proud with himself for supposedly catching me in my lie. But! But it doesn't make any sense! The whole reason I left Ikebukuro, way back when the both of us went to Raira together, **was** the post. After escaping both his and Shizuo's scorned wrath, I went home and deleted the post. Deleted my entire account! There was no way that he could carry a grudge for this long! You'd think he'd be use to attempts on his life considering what he does for a living..._

 _"L-Look. I'm sorry, alright? I-I-It was just a vent post! It wasn't suppose to be taken seriously! That's why I deleted it when-"  
"Now, I think this charade has gone on long enough, Kishiro. Your poker face is pitiful." A frown replaced the grin on the other's face as his hand snaked its way into his pocket. Sweat was starting to form on my forehead as I felt the tension between us grow to stifling degrees; this was bad. This was bad, bad, bad, so very **fucking bad**! Oh god..._

 _"W-what? What are you-?"  
"You say you deleted the post and account and I'll admit, back then, you did as you said. However," a soft sneer overcame his face as his hand dug itself deeper into his pocket, "that doesn't explain why the account suddenly reappeared five months ago with only one post on it. Quite a coincidence, wouldn't you say?"_

* * *

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Back that up a minute!" The popcorn was left discarded on the floor of my van as I tried to wrap my head around what the hell Kichiro had just told me. I was the only other person that knew about the post and believe you me, when I found out what he did, I had to use every single last bit of restraint in my body to keep from strangling him to death myself. I was also right there with him when I saw him delete his account! My bro swore off the site after that mess and hasn't been near it since! Which means.

 _"Someone must've taken a screenshot of the post and copied it along with my account information. I even looked it up myself and there it was! My old account has been revived with the soul purpose of exercising a hit on Izaya and Shizuo and they think I'm behind it!"_

"Maaaan. Wait. You said 'they'. Isn't Izaya the only one that knows?"

 _"Well, he **was**. Things started to go south in the coffee shop very quickly after that, but that shit was just a prelude for what was going to happen next."_

* * *

 _"Now as fun as it was catching up with you," a flash of silver caught my eye as Izaya started to draw his knife from his pocket, "I'm afraid that-"  
"GOOD GOD, HE"S GOT A KNIFE!"_

 _The scream reverberated through the shop and drew the attention of all the current patrons and, more importantly, the staff and manager. It wasn't long until security guards were charging over and grabbed the stunned Izaya, which gave me enough time to make a mad dash out of the shop and keep running. I ran and ran and ran for I don't even know how long. I didn't stop until it felt like my lungs were going to shrivel up and die inside of my body, until sweat soaked the front of my shirt and until I just collapsed onto the ground. Face-first, right into the fucking dirt._

 _"This cannot be happening. I got rid of that post. I got rid of that fucking account. I'm being used as a cover-up for somebody else's hatred for the both of them, I say!" My voice was muffled, but the emotion was still there. I needed to fix this somehow! Emphasis on 'somehow', of course. I didn't have crazy hacking skills like the psychopath I had just escaped from or any intel like he had. Figuring out who the hell was behind all of this was going to be a task to end all tasks, but I had to do it! I'd rather not go the rest of my life looking over my shoulders for flying street lamps and being extremely superfluous with any online transaction for the rest of my life, thank you very much._

 _"Clever, Kishiro! Very clever!'  
"Oh you got to be fucking kidding me."_

 _The sound of clapping drew my face from the dirt as I saw the person I was trying to escape from coming closer and closer to me. My legs hurt, my diaphragm hurts, hell, just about my everything hurts, but I managed to waddle myself into a standing position...of sorts. An evil chuckle came from Izaya as the switchblade that I had tried to use against him back at the coffee shop was pulled back out. Damn no-good, worthless security guards! I hope they get a pay cut for letting him leave with that in hand. I hope they get a pay cut for letting him leave at all!_

 _"Now~. Where were we~?" Without a moment's hesitation, I was being charged at with the knife at the ready to stab me like it were a bayonet. I couldn't move. I was so chocked full of fear and surprise that it completely froze my body. All I could do was close my eyes and wait for the pain to come. I started thinking about everything I hadn't gotten to do with my life! Not graduate college, not see my brother again, not get that hot new game that would've saved my house, not being alive to see the newest Persona game's release!_

 _CLANG!_

 _"Huh?!" That didn't sound like my flesh being ripped apart. It sounded like something metal hitting...something fleshy? I tentatively popped one eye open to see that Izaya wasn't heading for me anymore. In fact, he wasn't **anywhere** near me anymore. It took some looking around, but I finally found him about ten feet away to the right of me with one of those coin-operated newspaper racks right next to him. ...Wait a second. If that thing had been uprooted from the ground and thrown at Izaya, then that can only mean that-  
_

 _"IIIIIIIIIZAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAAAA!"_

 _A small squeak came from me when I heard the outraged scream coming towards us. The smart part of my brain finally decided to kick itself in the ass and I very quickly sidestepped to get out of the way of the raging behemoth that was making a beeline for the staggering informant. 'And with that, I think my time here is up,' I thought as I quickly speed walked away from the soon-to-be hazard zone._

* * *

"Okay, so wait. You mean to tell me you didn't stick around to see Izaya tell Shizuo about the hit?"  
 _"Of course not, stupid! And give them both equal opportunity to kill me at the same time?!"  
_ My shoulders pulled themselves into a shrug as I murmured a little underneath my breathe. "Good point."

 _"After I escaped from the both of them, I realized that I needed to get to where I was staying. At the moment in time, I had had enough excitement to last three lifetimes and just wanted to get somewhere I knew was totally safe. Fate had other plans, however, and wanted to give me one last runaround for the day. And boy was it a crock of shit."_

* * *

 **End second chapter!**


	3. The Day Kichiro Ran: Finale

_"I am so fucking lost!"_

 _It'd been about two, three hours since I'd had that run-in with Izaya and gotten away. With Shizuo's unknowing help, of course. As grateful as I am to be alive and not stabbed through with dozens of knives, I still have a new conundrum on my hands. Figuring out just where the hell I was now. Izaya had dragged me to a part of the city that I'd never been too, even when I lived here, so my memory wasn't going to be any help. Russia Sushi wasn't anywhere in sight, so I couldn't even use that as a landmark to guide me home. That calculating bastard must have known that I'd have trouble and, as you would expect from the sleazebag, he was correct._

 _"Oh, this is hopeless. I-I'm never gonna find my way to where I need to go! I need help." I'm just so done with today. I've had three heart attacks in the span of twenty-four hours, my legs still ache from that run I took from the coffee shop plus the sweat on my shirt has dried and was starting to make me reek. Is a nice, warm, bubbly bath and warm bed too much to ask for at this point? I don't think so!  
_

 _"Let's see here. Best get to asking for some directions. Now...who here looks like they could tell me where the fishing warehouses are located?"_

* * *

"Wait. 'Fishing warehouses'? Why the hell were you looking for those?" Kichiro hates fish. Hates the look of them, hates the feel of them and especially hates the smell of them unless they were cooked or in sushi form. Always has since that fishing trip we took with our late uncle when we were kids. Who knew that so many tuna could fit inside of one person's pants?

 _"Well, my paranoia at coming here was profound. I didn't want to risk being found at my old stomping grounds, so I called in a favor from way back in the day. An old friend managed to hook me up when room in board in one of his warehouses by the bay...so long as I didn't tamper with any shipments or wreck the joint."_ The sound of his laptop jostling rang through my ears as soon my brother used the small camera on the front of his screen to show where he was. He actually was inside of a fucking fishing warehouse! If that doesn't say how much he values his own life, I don't know what does.

"Well, what the fuck are you going to do when you need to use the bathroom or take a shower or something?"

A blur of color overcame Kichiro's side of the conversation as he pivoted the laptop to a random corner of the warehouse. In it was what looked to be a crudely put together shower with a faucet and a single curtain to hide whoever would use it and...what looked to be a hole in the ground. Oh, my poor baby brother.

 _"Let's not dwell on my living conditions for too long or else I might start to cry. Now, I had asked around quite a lot to try and get the directions to where I needed to go, but some people had gone deaf while others were just too damn incompetent to help me. I was half-tempted to check into a hotel when **shit. got. real.** "_

* * *

 _"Eeeeeeh~? Kichiro~? Is that you?"  
"Oh no." I whimpered. Will I ever know a moment's peace?! Why?! Why has the world forsaken me?! I don't litter!  
_

 _I turned around to see Izaya skipping down the sidewalk towards me. Though, I couldn't see one, I was certain that there was a knife concealed in that fur trimmed coat of his. My body acted on impulse and I found myself beginning to back away from the approaching madman to prepare myself for a quick getaway. If he wanted to kill me so badly, he better prepare himself for the fiercest...chase he's probably ever been apart of with someone that wasn't Shizuo. Despite being the same build as Izaya, I highly doubt I could take him in a fight, so running was my best option._

 _I continued working my way from him before turning on my heel to start running. That is, I **would** have done such a thing if something hadn't gotten in my way. Something...fleshy. Something that, despite the fact beforehand, felt like a brick wall. Something that was wearing **black**. My eyes trailed upwards as my shuddering form took a step back to see Shizuo Heiwajima glaring down at me for the second time today. I looked back. Izaya had stopped in his approach with a sadistic smile on his face and my fingers drummed against themselves. This does not bode well for me._

 _"Hey." A gasp came from me as I about faced back towards the towering giant man before me.  
"Y-Y-Yes?" I whimpered out.  
"You're name. It's Kichiro, right?" A gulp.  
"U-um? Y-Yeah! Th-that's...that's me! Kichiro!"  
"Right. So you're the one that's got that hit out on me...right?"  
" **That!** That's actually a big misunderstanding, let me tell ya! I-I-I can explain-"  
"-So. You're also the reason that those punks thought attacking my brother was a good idea...RIGHT?"_

His brother got attacked because of this? That's weird; you think you would've heard about a murder the following day if anybody tried to hurt someone that close to Shizuo.

 _I know, right?!_

 _"...You have a **brother**?" A shrill shriek came from me as I narrowly managed to dodge a flying fist coming to my face. The tree, poor sap that was rooted into the ground, did not have that same luxury. The punch made contact and the trunk of the tree was damn near reduced to splinters; with that one hit, the once healthy lumbering piece of oak was wrenched out of the ground as its roots couldn't keep a grip on the earth underneath it. My mouth hung open ajar as soon as it came crashing down onto the cold cement right behind us. Pedestrians on the other side of the road were stopping and gazing at the chaos that was unfolding before them. Great, so I'll have an audience to witness my death. Hopefully an entire street full of witnesses will be enough to indict the both of them with first-degree murder charges!_

* * *

A low whistle came from me. Imagine yourself in Kichiro's shoes in that moment! Two of the most dangerous people in the city are on either side of you with the intent to kill in their actions; if **I** had been there, I'm not too proud to admit that I would've pissed my pants and fainted.

 _I don't really want to go into full details about what happened there, I'm afraid if I do, the sudden burst of fear will throw my heart into overdrive and give me a **ninth** heart-attack today. So, I'll skip ahead to when the chase had really gotten heated._

* * *

 _Shrill incoherent shrieks of terror rang throughout streets of Ikebukuro as I sprinted down another alleyway. The sound of something metal etching into the ground behind me only gave me more incentive to keep running and to not look back because the second I look back, I'm gonna trip on something and die. Horror movie physics will not get the better of me today!_

 _Then again, with the way my lungs were crackling into dust and my legs dissolving into jelly, that's probably not what's going to get me caught here..._

 _Escaping from the alleyway unscathed, the nearest safe haven to me was Russia Sushi, but god knows where the hell that was! Hearing metal groan from somewhere behind me, a silent 'Oh Jesus!' wormed its way out of my lips before I tried to find a safe place to hide. Without really thinking on where I was going, I ran into some random building on the other side of the street, not caring about the rapid sound of horns honking at me when I deliberately crossed their path in the busy intersection. Getting hit by a car has to hurt less than getting hit by a traffic sign tossed at a hundred miles per hour, right?_

 _Charging inside like a herd of angry rhinos was on my ass didn't do me any good first impressions with the store owner, who had been preparing to close up from the glare she gave me, but I didn't care! I'm running for my life here!_

 _I threw my body into one of those little circular clothes racks that kids hid in; the one I dove into had a bunch of dresses that were so long they almost touched the floor, so I would be hidden still. A small opening between the articles of clothing gave me just enough space to see what was going on outside of the store...and my heart nearly stopped at what I saw._

 _Shizuo was nowhere in sight, but Izaya was speaking to the woman as she recounted what had happen before the psychopath could get here._

 _"And he just went barreling through the store like a madman!"  
"That must've been a very harrowing experience for you, m'am. You wouldn't happen to know which way he went?"_

 _My hands clapped together so fast, I'm amazed neither of them heard it. Every single last pray I heard from tv, movies, that one day I went to Sunday school all came outta my mouth like rapid-fire to whatever God is up there for them to **not. come. back. HERE!** An eye popped open hesitantly as I awaited the woman's answer with baited breath._

 _"No, I'm sorry-" I had to stop myself from doing a massive fist pump in the air, God is smiling down on me! Could've used this a couple of hours ago, like the moment I got off of the train or when Izaya found me in the alley, but hey! Here's looking at you!_

 _"-BUT. It is very likely that he **could** be hiding somewhere in the back. If you wish, you can come and look for him; I don't want a hooligan like him still around when I'm ready to close the store." You know what I said earlier, God? I take it all back! You aren't smiling down on me not because you're helping me, you're smiling down on me because you enjoy all the fucking suffering you're putting me through! I silently closed the small gap as I heard him coming my way; oh god, oh god, what do I do, what do I do?!_

 _"Kichiro~? Are you in here~?"_

 _God, why is he so fucking creepy?! My body crouched into an immensely uncomfortable angle to try and keep from shoving any body part out into the open by accident as I followed the shoes that were walking towards my direction. I damn near bulged my eye out of its socket as I struggled to keep track of him. He started looking around the far back of the store first and I managed to sneak my face out to see him searching behind a random display. Oh, how the hell am I going to get out of this?! I know if I try to exit out of the front like I came from, the store owner would only send him right after me and not only that, but I still don't fucking know where Shizuo went! He could be out there, just waiting for me!_

Jesus! Well? How the hell **did** you get out?  
 _Yeah, uh. So. Remember when I said, "I still don't fucking now where Shizuo went,"?  
_ Uh duh. You said it not even five seconds ago.  
 _Well, he made himself known sooner than I thought he would. And would've liked._

 _Out of fucking nowhere, the door at the front of the store comes sailing right by my hiding place. The updraft it left blew up the dresses and revealed me for half a second, but other than that, I was fine. Aside from the **seventh** heart-attack I was trying to deal with quietly..._

 _"Ah, there you are, Shizu-chan! I was wondering where you ran off to; I just thought your protozoan brain had gotten you lost along the way~."  
"Shut the hell up, Flea!"_

 _Footsteps stomping to my position made me curl up into a ball and shiver. Two people out to kill me are less than ten feet away from me; the fact I haven't started crying, at this moment and any other moment in this accursed day, makes me think I've gained a small amount of courage through this entire fiasco. Not enough to go charging out of my hiding place for the exit, but you know. Small victory for me._

 _"...So where is he?"  
"Sad to say, it seems we've lost him, Shizu-chan. And even with my connections, I haven't been able to track down where he plans to stay while still in the city."  
"Tsk. Not as smart as you think you are, eh?"  
"On the contrary, monster," a tone of apprehension was in Izaya's voice, "I'm smart enough not to bring an already lit cigarette into a building with an active sprinkler system."_

 _No sooner had the informant said that, a blaring siren started to sound throughout the entire store. Next thing any of us knew, a shower of water started to rain down all over the store and I had to keep myself from groaning. Sure, why not add some sopping wet clothes to the mix of bullshit that I have to deal with today?_

 _'Wait a second,' an idea suddenly dawned on me, 'This could be my chance to get out because squatting in this position is **really** starting to get uncomfortable.' With the sirens blaring all around us, I could make my escape. Through, through. My eyes scanned throughout the entirety of the store from the one vantage point I had to see where I could run to. A small gasp left my lips as I saw my salvation; the fire escape door in the far back of the store! That was my ticket to freedom! How to get their attention to the front of the store, though, was going to be tricky._

 _"Oh, my storefront! My precious clothes! Out, out, the both of you!"  
_

 _Okay, maybe not as tricky as I thought. I bent my body back downwards to see the woman's shoes start to make their way over to both of them before what I assumed to be her ushering them out of her establishment took place from the way the shoes were moving. The back half of my body slowly inched its way out of my hiding place as soon as they passed me. I kept my body low to the ground as I stalked backwards like some kind of lizard or a cat in a pounce position...moving...backwards, look, I'm not good with similes, alright?!_

 _Once my ass touched the back wall, I slowly slid myself up against it to get to my feet; eyes trained on the three people at the front of the store to make sure that they didn't see more. The alarm was still blaring and I knew it was now or never. My feet shuffled against the floor as I managed to move closer and closer to the door before grabbing onto the handlebar of the door._

 _Next thing everybody knew, I pushed on the door...fucking **slipped on the wet floor** , knocked my head against the concrete step outside the door and crawled out the rest of the way towards the alley. Why I didn't see this coming is beyond me._

 _'What do I do?! What do I do?! Gotta hide, gotta hide, gotta hide, gotta hide!' Hearing the sound of rapid footsteps from inside the store, I did the first thing I could think of; the nearest trashcan was opened and I crawled my little ass right inside of it. This short height of mine could be as much of a blessing as it was a curse at times like these..._

 _"I thought you said you saw him run back here?"  
"I did! Fucking weasel's around here somewhere."  
"Leave it up to a protozoan to forget what he just saw not even ten seconds ago."_

A snarl rang out from the outside of the trashcan. This is good! If Izaya can antagonize Shizuo enough, he'll chase after him to kill him instead of me! For once, I'm actually glad that Orihara is such a piece of garbage.

 _"You know, I think I can take care of that slippery asshole by **myself.** And..." All of a sudden, the side of the trashcan I was hiding in was crunched in and I almost screamed. My body was thrown to the opposite side of the container as Shizuo swung it at Izaya. This is all speculation, of course, but I'm pretty sure that's what's going on here. "...I know I don't need another one hanging around!" I knocked my head against every side of the trashcan as the enraged bartender continued to use my hiding place as a make-shift weapon against the demon informant. My stomach was starting to churn like crazy and if he didn't stop soon, I'm gonna find my breakfast this morning spewn all over me._

 _"Ah, always one to resort to violence, aren't we~?"  
"Shut your damn-" I feel myself being tipped downwards, why am I tipping downwards? "-MOUTH, LOUSE!" I couldn't help myself; the second I realized he had thrown me, a horrendous scream wrenched itself out of my throat as I suddenly became weightless. The top half of the trashcan had flown off and I let out another bloodcurdling scream; I am **so. Fucking. HIGH!** The trashcan was, like, spinning too, so everything was a blur of lights and sky, lights and sky, lights and oh good merciful **Jesus, I AM GONNA DIE!**_

* * *

 _"However, despite my current thoughts at the time, I did **not** die. Obviously. Yet, I-What's with that look on your face?"_

"Hmm. Oh! Uh." How do I explain this without him freaking out? "It's nothing. Just nothing." Simple; I don't tell him. He'd been through a lot today and I don't need to add onto it more. Besides, it wasn't all that important compared to what he's going to be dealing with during his time here.

 _"Hmmm. Well, to make an already long story short, I managed to stay inside of the trashcan long enough to land somewhere close to Russia Sushi. After...throwing up, crying and all around letting out every emotion I've been feeling today but haven't had the time to express, I made my way there. Dennis was more than kind enough to point me in the right direction and...here I am."_

It took me a moment to fully take everything in. All the shit that he's been through today, sheesh! Not to mention the fact that they were still out there, still waiting for him to mess up and get caught and do...god knows what to him! Plus! There was still some guy masquerading as him online; it was a whole crock of shit that could've been avoided if he hadn't been such an idiot back in his Raira days. But...

"Listen bro, I...I know you're going to stay here and try and clear your name. So...if you ever need anyone to talk to or help you out of a tough situation...you can always call me, alright?

A look of shock overcame Kichiro's face before a small smile started to form. _"Thanks, man."_

"Anytime, Kichiro."  
 _"...Do you think you could float me over some cash for my game coming out this year? It's kinda the reason why I wanted to talk to you-"  
_ "And I'm disconnecting for the night. Goodbye."  
 _"Oh no, no, no, no! Wait! It's only eighty bucks, I'll pay you ba-"_

* * *

 _DISCONNECTED FROM LIVEWIRE_

* * *

 **And that brings Kichiro's first encounter with Shizuo and Izaya to a close! Not all chapters will be long like these first three as a heads up, okay? Some of them will be little snippets and some will be like these, so just wanted to tell you that!**

 **Bye! Thanks for reading!**


End file.
